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By Dr Tsegaye Ararsa, Constitutional Lawyer - former professor of Law at Addis Ababa University
The Tigray-Ethiopia relation is governed mainly by the Pretoria Agreement, and only secondarily by the Constitution.
The constitution, conceived as a framework within which disagreements between the two are to be resolved, is cast as an annex to the agreement.
As far as Tigray is concerned, the constitution has been blatantly violated since 2018, but especially after the 2020 election.
The constitution, implicated as it was in the atrocious crimes of the genocidal war, did not have a meaningful existence as far as Tigray was concerned.
It is this imposed "constitutional void" that made defensive war the only mode of ensuring the survival of Tigray as a nation and the Tegaru as a people.
Their heroic resistance has eventually yielded the Pretoria peace deal. That is why, Pretoria, as much as it marks the end of armed hostilities, also marks a new legal beginning for the Ethio-Tigray relation.
Yes, the Pretoria Peace deal (if one can call it that), is the new constitution between Tigray and Ethiopia. As inadequate as it is as a constitutional document, it is the only binding thread that exists between them (other than the now muzzled/neutralized military flex). This has to sink in to the mind of the leaders, especially of Tigray (because the other side has nothing one can call a leader, much less one with a sane mind).
Abiy's flaunting of the terms of the Pretoria agreement is an ominous sign of irresponsibility as these terms are the only thread that bind Tigray to Ethiopia. Ignore them, and Tigray is gone.
Pretoria, you see, is intended not only to stop and avert conflict but also to serves as a bridge between the two. At least until Tigray negotiates a new term of (re)entering the constitutional union, possibility via a new comprehensive referendum.
But in order to get there, Abiy (or whoever rules Ethiopia) must honor the terms of the Pretoria agreement--and for several reasons. For Peace. For humanitarian purposes. For purposes of preserving the union. For keeping Tigray in the union (albeit tentatively).
The issue of compliance therefore is a serious issue. A crucially decisive one at that.
Adhere to the terms, you will give chance to peace, humanity, and unity. Ignore them, and you will lose all. The stakes are that high.
That is also precisely why the guarantors must exert a maximum effort to enforce the agreement.
#Comply_or_perish!